Vanilla Extracts!

Long time coming but I'm finally trying my hand at making vanilla extract!

I made two bottles, one 8oz (about a cup) and one 4oz (about 1/2 cup)

I sliced the vanilla open lengthwise, leaving about 1 inch uncut on either end. Put the vanilla beans in the bottles first, (5) per 1 cup of bourbon or vodka is the general ratio. (I used (2) for my 1/2 cup bottle). Fill the bottles 95% full with the alcohol and shake well. Shake every few days for about 6-8 weeks, and they should be ready. (When they are ready you will smell more vanilla than alcohol when you do a sniff test). You can use and top off these bottles for about six months!

Extracts!

Okay, so I haven't exactly tried this yet... And I promise to post more when I actually do, but I'm suddenly in love with the idea of making various extracts. Gonna try vanilla and lemon first, and then really the sky's the limit... At least if you can find a use for them (not sure how useful borage extract would be - hmmm unless you make your own cough drops...)

Anyway, using this recipe as a baseline

http://www.averiecooks.com/2012/11/homemade-vanilla-extract.html

I'm gonna get some alcohol and jars and see what happens!